Marga Coll

A thoroughly Mallorcan cook

Marga Coll reinvents Mallorca every day. Her beloved Mallorca. It is in her head, in her hands, at her table. This is something that she does both at Miceli in Selva – where she passes on the values she imbued from a young age – and at Arrels, in the Gran Meliá del Mar Hotel, where she is also at the helm. The two restaurants are a proud showcase of her roots and highlight a matriarchal background. Devoted to the sea that surrounds, calms and inspires her, the ideas behind Coll’s food are driven each day by a desire to journey from one end of the island to the other. With the market in Inca as her starting point, she then goes on her way to each and every one of her trusted suppliers. And there are a lot of them. With a feel for – and loyalty to – all that is artisanal, she believes in sustainability and is totally committed to local ingredients; values that are shared across the Balearic Islands. This can be appreciated by numerous kinds of charcuterie, traditional soups and outstanding cocas. A woman who has been devoted to gastronomy since her grandmother revealed to her the love found in the family’s recipes, over time she has become a name that is inextricably linked to contemporary Mallorcan cuisine. Coll’s island frame of mind is expressed in her approach to cooking, allowing those who visit this top foodie destination to get to know it intimately, too. Despite being based on all that is rural, it does not reject the energy that comes from Palma de Mallorca. It is a generous, constructive perspective, with international reach and unconditional love for what she does. Marga Coll’s culinary beliefs have always come first wherever she has cooked; this has been evident throughout the journey that has taken her from the warmth of home to culinary school, and onwards to take the professional step necessary to show who she is. Being part of the prestigious Chefs(in) relaunched her career at home and away from ‘ses illes’ [the Balearic Islands], something that she very humbly recognises. She treats her staff with the same humility as she does the diners who savour the discourse that is implicit in all her food, and it extends to everyone who, like her, supports initiatives of a social and shared nature that revolve around gastronomy. Belén Parra